Ahead of the Champions League last 16 tie, the newspapers carry reports from the opposition, while there are also rumours Manchester City are pursuing a highly-rated German teenager.
We’ll start with tonight’s test at St Jakob-Park and Basel manager Raphael Wicky’s assertation that that the Blues are the complete team.
ESPN have the story, with the Swiss coach saying: “I think the team has, basically, no weaknesses. They show that every three days in all the competitions they participate in.
“We don’t need to talk about the quality of the players or the coach - you can see his way of football, his philosophy. We saw it at Barcelona and Bayern and we see it now at City.’’
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Meanwhile, there’s been much talk amongst the media as to whether the Blues’ domestic form can propel them into the latter stages of the Champions League this season.
Richard Fay at the Manchester Evening News is the latest to discuss this, suggesting the first game of the knockout stages will give an indication of City’s level in Europe.
He writes: “While the Premier League title race has now turned into a gentle stroll, the Blues still need to prove themselves on the European stage.
“It’s easy enough to say City are the best team in Europe, but it is another challenge for them to go out and prove it.
“To do so City will be hoping to overcome a couple of hurdles tonight.
“The Blues have only won one of their six away games in the Champions League knockout stages - a 3-1 win against Dynamo Kiev in February 2016.”
To transfer rumours now and Josha Vagnoman is a youngster on the City radar, according to the Daily Star.
Though Callum Vurley claims Arsenal have also joined the race for the teen.
Writes Vurley: “The Gunners join Chelsea, Manchester City and Bayern Munich for the 17-year-old’s signature.
“The versatile defender, who can play both left-back and right-back, starred for Germany in the Under-17 World Cup last year.
“Vagnoman trained with Hamburg’s first-team squad last week and the Bundesliga outfit wanted to include him in the clash versus Borussia Dortmund.
“However, until the wonderkid has signed a professional contract, he cannot play for the first-team.”
That’s all for today, Blues, but stay tuned to mancity.com for all the build up to tonight’s match.
